Currently, workflow activity and data retrieval are hampered by extensive database usage. Data pertaining to, for example, innovation collaboration, require multiple database calls and hence use high processing power on a processor. In workflow type applications that have multiple stages, or data points, it is common that a particular processing stage of the workflow depends on data that have been produced and may or may not have been properly indexed. Workflow applications, or workflow instances, typically require that data be passed from one stage, step, or activity, to another in a sequential manner, requiring a linkage for passing the data and heavily depending on database calls.